Not quite 50 shades of grey…but there are definitely a few!

“Click.” That was the sound of the heating being clicked on to constant as Mr SG left the house for the day for his annual conference. The house is totally toasty now!

Today I took the youngest on her first shopping trip. Generally either I have chosen her clothes for her, or she’s worn her sister’s hand me downs but now that she has reached the grand old age of 6 (nearly 7) she liked the idea of choosing a few bits of her own.

She was so excited and I know that she loves it when I wear a skirt or dress so I wore this Whistles skirt from last year, with a Topshop jumper, flat Whistles shoes and a Reiss leather jacket that I bought in the sales at the end of the summer. It’s the first time that I have worn it and it felt really lovely. I’ve always loved Reiss leather jackets and as my Oasis one was looking shabby it needed replacing but at about £450 a shot I didn’t think that it would ever happen. And then, right at the end of the sale I came across this one for about £180 – not an insignificant amount I realise but I knew that it was now or never, so I took the plunge.

We did a one stop trip to M&S which came up trumps with some lovely pieces in the sale. The Autograph range was great and it’s definitely worth a look, with some really pretty, age appropriate clothes. I loved this Autograph floral skirt (£16 to £18) – it’s very Ted Baker – but I kept quiet and we came home with a skirt with cats on instead.

I have just come across the silver Autograph boots (£40) online. They go up to a size 6, for anyone tempted with some silver Chelsea boots.

Next we went to Clarks for some shoes, where we were told that they didn’t actually make any shoes in the size that our daughter had been measured as needing (12D), which kind of threw me, but would we like some wellies or slippers that we didn’t actually go in for and which wouldn’t have really fitted her anyway but which we might need because it was getting colder. Eh? That would be a no then.

This was one of our other projects for the day. Replacing the covers on the left hand chair with the new sausage dog oil cloth print which is available at John Lewis. You cannot imagine how much fun, and how satisfying it is, using a staple gun. It’s much better than trying to build a gingerbread house. I shall be changing my name Linda Barker.

Hi Beth, love your blog, stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and I'm hooked. Find it really relevant, and it's nice to have a few minutes to think about clothes in an otherwise packed day!You might like to check out a fabulous kids shoe shop in Kings Heath called Coo Shoo. Service is excellent and they do styles to fit all width fittings including very narrow. Lovely European brands that you don't usually see here. If you do venture towards Kings Heath check out the lovely People shop on Poplar Road, they make all their own stock at high street prices. Louise x

Style Guile was conceived after I realised that there were few personal style, and lifestyle, blogs aimed at women over 35. Now that I am over 45, there are even fewer! I post outfits, write about brands, test the trends and cover lifestyle too. To me, style and fashion should be accessible to all. I hope that you enjoy spending time with me!